Makarov seated himself at the head of the table, while a blonde's body slammed into the chair at the very end of the table. He signed at his son's antics. "You list yourself as noble?" he questioned the blonde man. The seats next to King's side of the table were meant for royally, while the other side was meant for the Queen of the house and nobles she could gossip with.
"Move ya ass over here and nothin' would change." The male uttered without a glance in his direction.
Makarov sighed. At least his son decided to come to dinner for once, instead of doing whatever he did in his pastime. He tapped in fingers on the table, waiting for the other guests to arrive into the room, such as his other son and the Princess. "Laxus," he stated to his oldest brute of a son.
Laxus didn't turn his head; completely ignoring him.
"Tonight, please do not act up. This is a royal affair, mind you."
Silence.
Even if Laxus was his son, he wished there were others in the room. At least those people will acknowledge him instead of turning their heads away. His pray was soon answered when he heard footsteps coming from his right. These weren't the sluggish steps of Sting, so Makarov thought it was Natsha.
Erza walked through the door and her eyes gleamed over the table. They stopped when Laxus came into view, the same man from the hallways who disappeared without a hint of finding their room.
"She isn't with you?" The king caught her attention.
"My apologies. She escaped from my sight when we found her room." She wanted to add, 'No thanks to that brute.' But seeing the blonde sitting with the king halted her words. He must be important to sit at the table, since only those with royal blood or nobles sat there close to the king.
A green haired woman appeared on the other side of Makarov with the pink haired following. "Oh…no…" the princess mumbled as Erza's eyes widen.
"King Makarvo, I've brought her," the maid bowed her head.
"Thank you, Bisca, you may leave now." Bisca turned and left the party. The king chuckled, "Looks like you didn't escape too far, my dear." He patted the seat next to him, where Laxus was suppose to be sitting but wasn't. "Join us! The others shall be here soon!"
Laxus cocked his head to the side and watched as Natsha sat down, "She isn't an entertainer?"
Erza gasped, "My lady is no such thing!" She formed a fist with her other hand, ready to fight if Laxus tried anything else.
"Entertainer?" Natsha questioned. Why did everyone think she was an entertainer?! The most she could do was burn down flowers, but other than that, she couldn't swallow swords or disappear from sight.
"Boy!" Makarov clumped his hand onto the table. Out of all of the things that could have escaped from Laxus' mouth, this was the most vulgar to say to a princess.
"What?" the blonde blinked as if he did nothing wrong.
The old man narrowed his eyes at his son, "Maybe you should excuse yourself for the time being and do whatever you usually do."
"Nah, things finally gotten interesting," he gave a slight chuckle and waved his father off. His shoulders relaxed as he lifted the legs of the chair off the ground and leaned back.
"Eh?" Natsha uttered and two turned their heads to look at the princess. "Where's the food?" Their heads dropped; they were thinking something serious happened.
The king gave a slight chuckle and answered her, "Once everyone is seated, it should arrive." He turned his head and glanced at Erza, who was still standing.
"Me as well?"
"This is a feast, my girl. Everyone is welcomed to sit."
Natsha gazed up. All of her fear from earlier disappeared as she gave the scarlet haired a smile. Erza seated herself once seat away from the King, and across from the Princess.
"Whose missing then?" the pink haired girl wondered out loud.
"My son, St-"
As soon as she heard the first two words, she remembered that blonde flirt in the gardens. "Laxus?"
"I'm already accounted for, Pinky," the blonde brute at the end of the table stated as he lifted his index finger.
"You are Laxus?"
"Didn't I already say it was?" He mumbled under his breath, "And I thought blondes were stupid." As he thought of his other two siblings, Sting and Lucy. Even if he was blonde himself, he had more intelligent than most within this room.
A boy with a vest stepped out from the hallways and walked to the seat across from Natsha. "It has seemed that my cover has been blown."
"You! Liar!" the pink haired pointed her finger at the newcomer. She stood up from the table and looked at this liar.
"Shaming my name once again, runt?" Laxus uttered with narrowed eyes at his younger brother. He remember all of the times that women dared to throw tomatoes at him after Sting broke up with them under the name, Laxus.
Erza raised her eyebrow; having zero clue what was being argued about. During most of her stay, which was two hours, she was lost in the maze of hallways.
The king, who was used to the two brothers, smiled fondly as they could finally began dinner. "Oh finally, Sting has decided to join us." Makarov clapped his hands together and soon servants sped out from the hallways, as if they were waiting for the noise, and began placing plates in front of those seated. It may be a feast, but only five people were eating.
Sting giggled to himself as Natsha finally sat down once more. "Sorry for my late introduction, but I am Sting, the fine gentleman of the house." The same words he described himself when he was playing as Laxus.
Laxus hunched over his plate and grumbled, "Or, the accident of the house."
Sting smirked. He heard that so many times, he was not fazed by it. "A wonderfully accident, may I add."
"Both of you." The king glared at the two blondes, "For once can we eat peacefully?" They were in front of company, yet they acted like fools. Makarov wanted to pull his grayed hair out of embarrassment because of the two.
The youngest blonde, Sting, raised his eyebrow and pointed over at his older brother, "Isn't that his cue to leave then?"
"More like the cue to remove your tongue, runt."
Erza sighed into the palm of her hand. For having such rank in a kingdom, the two Princes acted like immature midgets. She glazed up, hoping that Natsha felt the same, but the girl was only chuckling at the childish bicker between the two brothers; food was splitting out of her mouth. 'These are princes and a princess…' she reminded herself, 'Not hooligans.'
"Now that we finally have a moment of peace," the king eyed his kin, "I have an announcement. It has come to my attention that I'm…old."
"How long did that take?" Laxus questioned and Sting gave a slight chuckle.
The king chose to ignore it and went on. "I have not chosen an heir to my throne because I love you two so much." And he did trust neither to run his kingdom; he rather have Igneel's brother, Glidarts, do so instead. "That I leave the choice to the crown princess." He raised his hand and patted Natsha's shoulder.
"Eh?" Natsha wrinkled her nose, "What about me?"
"I'm first born, old man." For once, the blonde brute finally paid attention. He took hold of the table and glared at his father. "It's my place as heir."
Sting leaned over the table and took Natsha's hand, "So Princess Natsha, how does tonight sound?" He didn't waste no time in this matter.
"Not around my Princess," Erza raised a fork to Sting's neck. He gulped and let go of Natsha's hand.
Makarov raised his hand and tried to quiet everyone down to continue his plan; which King Igneel had no clue about. "I'm sorry, Natsha, for pulling you into this. But as you can see," he raised his palm at the two immature punks, "I'm lost. And your father is likewise. All of your suitors have been married off. This was the only thing we could do."
"I'm gonna burn him," Natsha uttered. Her eyes were lost in the flame of the candle. Her father knew about how she viewed such matters.
Sting turned in his seat and looked at his father. "If she's out of suitors…and here… So…one of us has to marry her?" His flirt mood left as he stuck the two pieces together. His question was answered when the king nodded. His eyes widen at the information. He was only sixteen; too young to be married! He could always have more night time flings, but to wear a wedding band will curse him for the most part.
The old man crossed his arms, "She will be the next queen of this kingdom, so whichever one she chooses to marry will become the next ruling king."
"I…gotta marry one of these creeps?!" Her eyes widen. She shot up from the table and ran for it. She wasn't going to get married. Never.
Her path was blocked by her knight.
"Don't try to stop me, Erza!"
The red haired lifted her gauntlets, readied for Natsha's impact, but it never came.
Laxus raised his foot out and the escaping princess tripped. His orange eyes looked down on her, "You're stuck here like the rest of us." With that, he lifted his gaze and went back to eating. He was the rightful heir to this kingdom and she was the only way to reclaim his place.
"Maybe…I should have told her in advance…" the king moaned. He looked between the teens in the room, a frozen flirt and a knight dragging her princess back to the table. The only one who seemed to be taking the news lightly was Laxus who was finishing his plate.
That Laxus from last chapter was a lie…sorry if I didn't make it clean enough (it was confusing enough for me to write). And now is the best time to start placing bets on which she will end out with. Sting is a flirt, while Laxus is a brute. Entertainer is…really a propustion.
rinpup14: This is probably my favorite one to write so far. Just love princesses and princes.
darkhuntressxir: That really was Laxus in the hallway, the 'Laxus' in the gardens was Sting lying. I tried making this clear in this chapter…but I probably messed up.
